The University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team will depart for St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, to play in the Paradise Jam Tournament this weekend. Here is a link to the bracket, but be advised – the folks in St. Thomas are an hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time so you should deduct an hour if you’re a Cincinnatian.
In order to view the games, you’ll have to subscribe to Flo Hoops at this link. The options are either a $12.50/month annual subscription (the site says you can cancel at anytime…) or a one-time $30 fee.
The Bearcats tournament schedule is as follows:
- Game One – Friday Night – Illinois State – 5:45 PM EST
- Game Two – Sunday Night – Western Kentucky or Bowling Green – 5 PM or 7:30 PM EST
- Game Three – Monday Night – TBD – 8 PM EST
Look, I get it, this isn’t exactly the Maui Invitational! The field includes Valparaiso (kenpom: 195), Grand Canyon (kenpom: 144) , Fordham (kenpom: 197) , Illinois State (kenpom: 205), Bowling Green (kenpom: 104), Western Kentucky (kenpom: 84), and Nevada (kenpom: 122). Excluding UC’s kenpom ranking (23rd, currently), the average ranking of the other teams is a woeful 150th. Woof!
Nevertheless, if Nevada wins out, at least the Bearcats will get some tune-up games in a beautiful location and may walk away with one win against a team with some brand ID. Silver linings…
Finally, I’ve now transitioned from #BohnWatch2K19 to #JarronWatch2k19. Given the list of competitors in the Paradise Jam, one story line predominates the Bearcats’ appearance in St. Thomas – Jarron Cumberland’s role with the team going forward. Coach John Brannen indicated Jarron was out indefinitely, but Seth Davis recently reported that Jarron was “responding well” to being benched. Davis indicated that Number 34 was probably going to return to the court against Illinois State on Friday night. I guess, time will tell.
By Brian Fox
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